Kete Remembered (feast dish)

Kete Remembered (feast dish) has been woven in honour of the Māori weavers who so graciously hosted me in Aotearoa. The top rim recalls the plait work of the kete, this time using yellow-cedar bark from the Northwest Coast. The pāua (New Zealand abalone) shell decorations echo the use of abalone on Tlingit feast dishes. The woven band shows alternating patterns: a traditional Ravenstail design adjacent to an interpretation of a Māori taniko pattern, woven Ravenstail-way. At one point, two Ravenstail patterns are placed back to back, indicating the start and finish of my journey. The bowl itself represents the vast Pacific Ocean and inside is nestled the island of my birth, Oahu.

Cheryl was born in Hawaii in 1944. She initially pursued a career in science, with an interest in fibre art and weaving. After marriage, children and a move to Seattle, she was attempting to solve a particular weaving problem when she attended a lecture given by Bill Holm at the Burke Museum in Seattle. There she saw the answer to her problem in a Northwest Coast Chilkat robe. She has been largely responsible for the revitalization of Ravenstail and Chilkat weaving by mastering lost techniques, teaching extensively, recreating and expanding the language of weaving, travelling internationally to study and document all historical robes (including fragments).